


Perfectly Flawed

by iamgoku



Series: Maintenance [1]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Amputation, Arcadia Bay (Life is Strange), Automail, Automail Talk, Blood and Injury, Chloe gets a metal arm, F/F, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Max Comes Back, Max comes back earlier than in canon, Mechanic Max, POV Chloe, Prosthetic Arm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-04-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23463973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamgoku/pseuds/iamgoku
Summary: After a tragic car accident robs Chloe of both her father and her right arm, her life was never the same. Spending two years one arm short and alone after Max moved to Seattle, her future seemed bleak.Then one day Max came back, and fixed more than just their broken bonds.She made her whole again.
Relationships: Maxine "Max" Caulfield/Chloe Price
Series: Maintenance [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1687939
Comments: 8
Kudos: 46





	Perfectly Flawed

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there everyone.
> 
> This little oneshot idea was something that struck me after I saw the below pic on Twitter, with Chloe with an Automail prosthetic arm, and wouldn't leave me alone. 
> 
> https://twitter.com/mollifiable/status/967837608482103297

The afternoon sun peeked through the gap in Chloe’s window from the side of the flag she used as a makeshift curtain.

Sitting on her bed and leaning against the wall, Chloe closed her eyes and let out a breath, the only sound in the room was the sound of tools clanking lighting as they were retrieved, as well as of the light creak of metal.

The sounds may not have bothered most people, but for Chloe, even the slightest metallic squeak reached her ears. 

She could always hear it.

_William tapped away at the steering wheel as they made their way down the street._

_Chloe was still seated in the back after they’d dropped off Max at her place before going on ahead, they still had to pick up Joyce from the grocery store before heading back home._

_She couldn't suppress the laughter that welled up from her Dad’s singing as they pulled up at the lights, he was hamming it up on purpose and trying to drag her into a duet as they were waiting._

_As the light turned green they continued on, only for William glanced to the right only to let out a yell as he lurched the steering wheel to the side_

_Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Chloe turned to the right to see what William had, only to see a truck heading straight for them._

_Chloe’s eyes widened milliseconds before the impact._

_The next few moments seemed silent, as if her body had switched off, before her entire world was turned on its side in a loud crash of twisting metal and screeching , the car flew off its tires and tumbled on it’s side again and again as they rolled down the street._

_The car was once again hit by the truck which had continued onward, though now having lost some of its momentum, but not enough to prevent further damage._

_Hitting the front of the car while it was still in mid-roll sent it lurching once more as the car was sent hurtling in a separate direction, finally stopping as it connected with a light pole._

_Now the sound of ringing filled Chloe’s ears, her body was still in shock as her senses were muddled and desperately trying to figure out what had happened._

_After several seconds however, Chloe realized two things._

_One was that the car was on it’s side._

_Second was that she began to feel pain in her right arm._

_Glancing over her eyes focused enough to see her right arm was horribly twisted at an unnatural angle and caught under the remains of the right side door and the road below, blood was pooling around the limb as Chloe could feel the pain building as her shock wore off._

_Gritting her teeth and stifling a cry, she turned dizzily to where William sat in the passenger seat, Chloe could see him leaning limply to the right, his seat belt the only thing keeping gravity from making him fall._

_“D-Dad...Dad?...” Chloe weakly said before crying out once more, the pain flaring up even more by the second, tears welling up in her eyes._

_Faintly she could hear other voices, no doubt rushing to the scene in all the commotion._

_“D-Dad!?” she cried out again, desperate for a response as black spots began to appear in her vision, which was becoming more blurry by the moment._

_“H-Help!” she weakly cried out to people she could now hear closer to the wreck._

_“Heeeeel…” Chloe tried again before the words died out in her mouth as her eyes fluttered closed, unconsciousness claiming her as the pain and blood loss overcame her._

Thinking back on the day where everything went wrong made her feel like shit, even after several years.

When she’d awoken in the hospital Chloe learned she’d lost two things that day. One was her father, who had died after the car went through it’s first flip, his head hitting the ground outside the drivers side window.

The only comforting thought was that it had been quick and painless.

Looking to her right, she was reminded of the second thing she lost that day. Her right arm had been crushed and broken beyond repair, the blood loss and other injuries didn’t help either.

The doctor’s had to amputate it completely from the shoulder.

She still remembered her mother’s tearful expression when she regained consciousness in the hospital, Joyce not having left her side after the surgery and carefully embracing Chloe as best she could without hurting her, crying into her hair as she thanked god over and over again that she was ok.

Chloe had gone into shock again at the loss of sensation and complete loss of her right arm, and had broken down as her mother tried desperately to comfort her.

It was only when, in between sobs asked where William was, that the news of his death was dropped on her too.

The initial shock of losing a major limb was devastating enough, but to also learn that her father was dead too was enough to send her into hysterics, so much so that the nurses had to sedate her to prevent her from exacerbating her injuries and post surgery recovery.

It had been a long and hard road to recovery, especially with Max moving away, her dad having taken a job in Seattle.

Chloe had never felt more alone in her life. 

Joyce tried to be there, but with her having to take extra shifts to help pay for Chloe’s medical bills, she couldn’t be there for her full time.

As well as the fact that they couldn’t afford any expensive prosthetics, or Automail. The mechanical prosthetic limbs had been around for a few years now, but were not cheap, and most insurance companies had still not incorporated Automail into their policies.

Joyce had initially considered taking a job with the Prescott’s when they’d been looking for new staff, for the prospect of saving enough to buy Chloe a prosthetic, but Chloe had flat out shut down the idea.

She didn’t even want to imagine her mother slaving away for those arrogant rich assholes, not even for her sake.

Especially not for her sake.

So for over two years after the accident Chloe had been without a right arm.

Then Max came home.

Chloe remembered the day her Mom came home from work with a smile on her face as she revealed she’d been talking to Max’s parents, they’d asked if Joyce would be ok with having Max stay with them as she was returning to Arcadia Bay to attend Blackwell.

At first Chloe wasn’t sure it was true, but quickly discovered her mother hadn’t been lying, and that Max was going to be moving in with them when she returned, and her parents would be sending money along every month to help out Joyce with her bills and housing an extra person.

Seeing Max again for the first time in over two years was surreal, almost like a dream. Joyce had of course gushed over Max and commented on how much she’d grown and asked her about her schooling, which was to be expected as Joyce had always loved Max like a second daughter.

When she gave her and Chloe some alone time to catch up, there was a lot of awkward silence and attempts to begin conversations between the both of them, until Max gathered the courage to talk.

She apologized for the lack of communication, which had slowed to a halt after a few months of being in Seattle. She went on to explain how she’d felt like she’d been thrust into a completely alien world, with no friends around, and her hobbies making her a bit of an outcast.

And the bullying she’d gone through as a result of being the nerdy weird shy new kid, which eventually just became the nerdy weird shy kid.

But that it still wasn’t a good excuse to have just stopped talking to Chloe.

One of the reasons adding to those however was an enormous feeling of guilt over having all but abandoned her best friend when she’d needed her the most, having not only been injured so horribly, but to have lost her dad.

Max felt ashamed and guilty that she’d left Chloe, and this had made her reluctant to talk to her, as she knew the feelings would only get worse.

But in doing so, had hurt Chloe even more.

She eventually stopped Max, whose conversational skills by now had evolved into a babble of frantic emotionally laced word vomit. 

Chloe began talking, addressing the issues she’d had since Max left, however she quickly found herself devolving into a similar state to Max.

She couldn’t recall who’d moved first, but they ended up in a tear soaked embrace, clinging to one another so tightly as if they were afraid the other would disappear again.

“Ok, almost done”

Hearing those words brought Chloe back to the present, and she looked to her right.

Max reached down into the compact tool box and retrieved a micro screwdriver before returning to work on her arm.

Or her replacement arm.

Watching the brunette as she worked with practiced precision on the interior mechanisms of the metal limb made Chloe once again feel a sense of adoration and amazement at how gifted she was on the subject.

When Max had moved to Seattle, she’d approached her parents about wanting to study photography when she was a senior, which was so ‘Max’ that Chloe couldn’t not suppress a smile.

Her parents had agreed to support her desires, but her father had stipulated that he wanted Max to have a secondary skill or field to study, for a backup to go into if her photography dreams were to ever not fan out the way she wanted to due to unforeseen circumstances, or if her interests were to shift down the line, that she would have another field to fall back on.

Max agreed to her father’s stipulation, but no one who knew her would have predicted the field she began to study, Chloe was certainly gobsmacked when she learned about it.

She had begun studying mechanics. 

Shortly after she began this, it was clear that somewhere in Max’s photography obsessed brain was a hidden skill for the subject, as she absorbed knowledge for it like a sponge.

This in no way reduced or lessened her passion for photography and the arts, but merely granted her another area where she became skilled and knowledgeable in. 

Max made sure to also study the area of Automail prosthetics when she began learning about mechanics. The area of Automail study was sort after, but not every person who studied mechanics would, or could, go into it, as it was very intellectually challenging and required a lot of study and understanding of not just mechanics, but of the human body and medical studies.

Again, Max took to studying everything she could with tenacity, and quickly advanced through the courses.

She even began work on her own designs and innovations, even managing to patent several designs and parts she’d come up with, which led to her parents setting up an account for her patents royalties. 

When Max had moved in with Chloe, it took her a few days before she brought up the subject she’d been wanting to talk with her about.

Max had designed Chloe a prosthetic arm, an automail design that she’d been working on for a few months, and had in mind ever since she started her studies.

Chloe was once again shocked by Max’s actions, even more so when she approached Joyce and said she’d already been preparing for the necessary steps Chloe would have to take, if she wanted to go ahead with it.

Joyce was of course concerned about the price, but Max explained she’d already put away the necessary funds from her patent royalties, which apparently was a sizable amount despite the short time she’d had them.

Chloe recalled this had led to Max being pulled into a hug from the older woman which threatened to cut off her air supply, as Joyce tearfully promised they would pay Max back as well as thanking her over and over again.

Max had refused any repayment though, not even concerned with any compensation.

It took Chloe no time at all to say yes, she had been told of the lengthy process of Automail surgery and the recovery before, when Joyce had looked into it. 

And while she was nervous, she trusted Max.

So a few weeks later, they were on their way to Seattle where Max and her parents had arranged for the surgery, Joyce having been in contact with the surgeon with Chloe leading up to it. Max herself not taking part in it, as she still wasn’t anywhere near qualified at that level to actually perform the surgical aspects of Automail work.

This involved Chloe undergoing many hours of surgery to install an Automail port onto her right shoulder. The surgery required sections of flesh, bone and muscle to be removed for the port to be installed properly, as well as connecting it to her nervous system.

A week after the surgery, Max presented Chloe with her new arm. The Automail design was perfect, and featured many innovations and improvements Max had come up with while studying the subject, including increased fluidity and flexibility in the fingers and joints, without any loss in integrity or overall strength.

It had three layers of overlapping plating on the upper right over the port, acting as the limb’s shoulder. While the main sections of the arm itself were two large cylindrical casings that were connected via an elbow like joint. The outer plating covered a system of motors, gears, hinges and pneumatic actuators within which were covered from view by the outer plating of the bicep and going down over the forearm also protecting the internal wiring.

The wrist had a smaller set of mechanisms, which allowed for bending and flexibility, as were the individual fingers and thumb which had multiple joints constructed with smaller tools.

All in all, the prosthetic arm was a marvel to behold for Chloe, and she could only watch in muted silence as Max went over the various features and design aspects of it.

In that moment seeing the fruit of Max’s labors, it suddenly dawned on her just how much work, study and effort went into this, how much Max had devoted to learning this field and in such a short time. She had known beforehand, but somehow seeing physical proof of it made it real in ways Chloe hadn’t considered.

She mostly nodded along as Max continued going over the design, until the doctor and Automail mechanic came in to go ahead with the connection. 

Connecting the arm itself, while a relatively quick process due to the arm already having been completed and having to only be attached to the port and secured, was an incredibly painful experience.

The Automail prosthetic had no internal power source, it was instead powered through Chloe’s nervous system, the electrical impulses generated by her brain and body travelled along the nerves and into the port and arm, which in turn powered the arm. 

However during the connection process all of the nerves in her right shoulder felt like they were on fire, a visible spark of electricity ran down the limb upon connection as Chloe couldn’t hold back the scream that had risen up from her throat, her left hand squeezing the bed rail in a death grip as she clenched her eyes shut to suppress any tears welling up.

After a few moments the sharp pain faded into a pulsing ache and Chloe fell back onto her pillow. 

Max had said it would hurt, but she still hadn’t been expecting that much pain. But the ache had soon dwindled as they had given her some pain killers, and told her that this was just the beginning.

It had taken her almost a year to fully get used to the arm, including a lot of physical therapy and recovery from the surgery. After having been without her right arm for over two years and suddenly having the Automail replacement, took time to adjust to.

Chloe needed to train her new limb till she could use it like all her others, which involved a lot of trial and error.

Not to mention a lot of smashed glasses and cups and bent cutlery along the way.

The feeling also surprised Chloe, due to the nerve endings connecting and running electrical impulses through the arm, she discovered she could still ‘feel’ along the limb. It was different from normal flesh and skin sensations though, she could feel sensations of touch, but not of pain.

She’d found this out after accidentally pouring hot water on her automail hand, and while she could feel some differing sensations to her regular sense of touch in it, there was no pain or discomfort.

Max warned her that if she were in conditions of extreme heat or cold, the Automail being a metal limb, as well as the shoulder port which was grafted to her body, would conduct the temperatures and cause burns to her skin where it was connected or frostbite, so she was warned to stay out of extremely climates, at least with that initial model of arm on.

Chloe later learned that Max had been designing several different models with different metal compositions, some made for withstanding varying temperatures and climates.

Though it still hurt like a bitch when she had to have the arm disconnected from the port and later reconnected, luckily most maintenance procedures didn’t need the entire arm to be removed, just repairs and upkeep while still attached. 

Which brought Chloe once again back to the present where she looked to see Max holding a small portable oil can which had an interchangeable nozzle with either a flexible or solid spout for when Max needed it.

Chloe watched as Max, who was wearing one of her beanies to keep her hair from getting in the way, oiled one of her inner gears, taking the same precisioned care she always did.

It always made a warm feeling work its way up from the pit of her stomach whenever she saw Max like this, so focused and at the same time caring and gentle.

Reaching over with her free hand, she retrieved her almost empty packet of cigarettes from where it lay on her bed, flipping the lid and grasping one between her lips and replacing the packet with a lighter she proceeded to light up.

Taking a small drag, she turned back to Max who was now screwing in the outer plating on the underside of her forearm, making sure all the screws were in place tightly before leaning back and wiping her brow.

“Phew, there we go! All done” Max said with a smile, which made Chloe’s own mouth turn up in a matching expression.

Max then began packing her tools away, making sure each one was back in its proper place.

Taking another drag from her cigarette, Chloe turned to admire her arm, especially the design she had customized with metal engraving down the arm of a ‘tattoo sleeve’ like design which was composed of floral accents, thorns, butterflies and a skull to top it all off. She took great pride in her customization, feeling it made the arm a bit more ‘her’ due to it.

Max finished packing her tools away and clambered up onto the bed beside her, taking the beanie off and running a hand through her hair as she leaned onto Chloe’s side. 

The shorter girl’s weight was nothing, and Chloe once again could feel the sensations of her contact against the Automail, and the smell of smoke and ash from her cigarette blended in with Max’s shampoo and the scent of oil that clung to her. 

Chloe didn’t admit it out loud, but she loved the smell. 

“Where would I be without my personal grease monkey” Chloe sniped playfully as she tapped out some of the ash into her ashtray at her side.

Max let out a short snort as she snuggled closer. “Probably hauled up in the junkyard even more than usual”

Chloe stuck her tongue out in response. “Nah, impossible, you’d miss me too much, I’d be gone for a few hours before you’d come running in a panic dragging your clunky ass tool box with you”

“Hey!” Max said nudging her in the ribs lightly.

“That _‘clunky ass tool box’_ is what keeps you in working order, so I’ll remind you to show it the appropriate respect” 

“Ok ok sorry! I bow in reverence before your mighty tools, oh mechanical genius” Chloe replied as Max couldn’t suppress the laughter that welled up in her chest.

“Just don’t you forget it” Max said with a small grin, before moving closer and pressing a kiss to Chloe’s cheek.

“I’m going to go grab a shower real quick” Max said as she prepared to move off the bed, only to find Chloe’s Automail arm moving to firmly keep her secured at her side.

“Chloe come on, I’m only going to be gone for five minutes”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about Max, I think one of my joints locked up” Chloe said back with a mockingly questioning glance down at her arm.

“That’s impossible and we both know it, I just finished fixing them all” Max replied with a roll of her eyes, this wasn’t the first time Chloe had pulled that excuse. 

“Well whatever, we’re just going to have to wait it out, so I’d get comfortable if I were you” Chloe said as she let out a relaxed sigh and dropped back on her pillow, bringing Max down with her suddenly.

The brunette let out a squeak as she was pulled down onto the bed before she found her head resting under Chloe’s chin, the taller girl moving to wrap both arms around her and burying her nose in Max’s hair, taking small breaths as the two found themselves spooning gently, Chloe running her fingers up and down Max’s back gently as she felt her eyelids begin to grow heavy. 

It didn’t take too long for the combination of their embrace and the comfortable bed to quickly lead to the two drifting off to sleep in one another's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> So! There you go, a random little oneshot I decided to write. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it, I know I hurt chloe (I'm sorry!!) But hopefully Max-Fluff makes up for it. 
> 
> I do have some plans for a follow up/continuation of this, as well as a separate idea involving Kate.
> 
> We'll see how things plan out. 
> 
> I know things are so crazy right now all over the world, and hope you're all being safe and taking care of yourselves and being considerate of others in these hard times. 
> 
> Be sure to leave a comment or kudos if you liked this oneshot, and if you are interested in seeing more, I may write more on this in future. 
> 
> Till then, I hope you all stay safe, stay healthy (and don't hoard toilet paper!!!!!)


End file.
